OK, here I go again! The ting I would look for is a cast table, mine is steel and I love it. Now I have tried to cut off two fingers with it, one time on Christmas day and had to wife take me to the Naval Hospital and then called the kids so they could take dinner out of the stove while I was being treated! The other thing is the fence and it’s stability! If you done have a good one, go find a good one as you will always have trouble doing good rip jobs. Mine is an older ‘Atlas 10"’ that I got from my father and I think it is close to my age - no comments from the peanut gallery! I do have a little Pax table saw that cuts strip wood quite well and I can set on the work bench when ever I need to do some cutting. Paul
Colin Criswell said:
I can only say one thing about table saws, Buy The Best One You Can Afford, it will pay off in the long run. I have been a woodworker for many years. It all started back when I was in High School (over 45 years ago). I have been in construction since I graduated College (as a Project Engineer, Superintendent and Project Manager). I have bought many tools, all the way from drills to backhoes and cranes. The one thing I know is quality comes at a price. Cheap tools are cheap for a reason. Back when I was in College (and poor) I bought a cheap Craftsman table saw (a table top model). I could not keep the fence straight and the motor (run by a belt) would not stay aligned with the miter gauge slot. I still had it when I bought my “quality” table saw about 15 years ago and I cursed it every time I used it. It was when my wife said we need new cabinets that I decided I needed another saw. I am not saying go out and buy the best, I am saying check whatever you are looking at for quality construction and ease of set up. I know most of everyone on this site will not be making cabinets or other fine woodworking project, most will be using it in this hobby I love. I am currently making rolling stock for my modest one loop (round-d-round). Some day, I will get into making buildings which my saw and other tools I have will make it much easier to do. Just my 2 cents regarding table saws.
I agree 100 percent with this statement. But I will add that since most of us wont buy the Delta or Rockwell we really want there are ways to make mediocre saws better. These guys make replacement pullies and link belts for most saws. The pulleys are machined steel not cast pot metal. Witht he addition of the link belt it will run much smoother. Making or purchasing a Biesemeyer style fence would be well worth the effort and price http://www.hohenfels.com/2013/04/diy-biesemeyer-fence-rails-part-1.html As mentioned a zero clearance plate is a must. I also have a piece of melamine that attaches to the fence face that is tall which gives support for re-sawing and can have feather boards screwed to it to hold things down. Learn to make jigs for it. the “super sled” is one of the better ones I have seen http://www.eaglelakewoodworking.com/post/Super-Sled-Crosscut-and-Miter-Sled.aspx.
Anything you can do to hold wood firm and keep fingers out is a good thing. And don’t stand behind it (yeah like any of us follow that advice).
Depending on what you think your fingers are worth I’d recommend a SawStop (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-money-mouth.gif)(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cry.gif)
Edit - Missed Colin’s previous mention of SawStop.
Devon, I do try and stand to the side, kickback can be brutal, even from a 1/2 inch square piece of wood. I only have my Proxxon table saw, its just like the Micro Mark one. I would love to have a large one for ripping big wood down to little wood for the Proxxon, but I don’t have the space to store another saw.
Fancy shmancy!
Here’s what my 10" Ryobi did today with it’s stock fence;
I always stand to the side because this old pecky cedar shoots out all kinds of chips. A piece of scrap wood between the fence and blade as a pusher, notched to hold down as it pushes. I’ll use a piece of scrap to hold it down past the blade if the wood tends to rise.
One of my high school buddies had a wicked cruel scar from his ring finger across his palm and up his arm. He said he reached over the blade… and got pulled in.
47 years later I see it every time I approach the machine.
I admit I use techniques I wouldn’t expose to a helper …
John
Yea, and the one thing I did, and many of us did, is remove that pesky blade cover. That increases the risk factor. My rule is that my fingers never get above the throat plate, so my fingers never get close to the blade. I have several scraps of wood for pushing the work around near the blade. If they get nicked by the blade, they don’t scream, cuss nor bleed. I would.
I agree with Colin. Buy what you can afford and have room for. You can accomplish most any task with any of the benchtop/contractor saws from the known brands like Craftsman, Ryobi, Rigid, Dewalt, etc. John’s post above shows that. Just understand the limitations of whatever you buy and don’t ask the saw to do something it was not designed to do. That’s how accidents happen.
Now go get you a good saw and let’s see it make some sawdust.
David Maynard said:
Devon, I do try and stand to the side, kickback can be brutal, even from a 1/2 inch square piece of wood. I only have my Proxxon table saw, its just like the Micro Mark one. I would love to have a large one for ripping big wood down to little wood for the Proxxon, but I don’t have the space to store another saw.
I went to my dads house one day to find him with stitches between his eyes and stitches in his thumb and wicked bruise on his forearm. A piece of Oak started to lift he pushed it down and it caught. hit his thumb bounced off his forearm, broke his prescription safety glasses and busted him between the eyes. Doc said he was damn lucky it bounced off everything else first before hitting him in the head or it could have been worse. Do you think the lesson we learned was to put the guard back on, no we leaned he needs to duck faster.
I used feather board, hold downs and push sticks religiously. I want a rockler ripper though. Sleds help a bunch also.
I was fortunate to be able to take industrial arts classes in junior high and high school (not that I’m that old) and was taught the proper use of power tools. I have been borrowing a table saw with a really dull blade and rip fence that has to be C-clamped…so I know about standing to the side and taking my time as I keep my eye on everything…So far I have all my fingers. But I’m looking forward to re-reading all of your thoughts and suggestions.
I need to rip some old cedar fence boards to begin making a few tunnel portals. Perhaps this weekend.
Richard
Richard Mynderup said:
I have been borrowing a table saw with a really dull blade and
maybe … For your own safety, for $25.00 since you are borrowing the saw you could buy a new blade. Or find a sharpening shop to re-sharpen the blade for half that.
All the saftey add ons in the world pale in comparison to a sharp blade. They are cheap and even cheaper to have sharpened. I second Dave’s suggestion. Go get a blade.